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no power, help!

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tahoe healey

tahoe healey

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I've been putting the car back together after painting and I had the usual battle with the rear plate light (reversed the wires and grounded everything out). When corrected, the power was fine, then ALL the power went out. Nothing! I had the horn, lights and radio before but now everything is dead. I'm thing solenoid??? How can it be checked.
Any other directions to try? I'm usually on top of this type of problems.
Of course, checked the fuses (I have 7).
 
tahoe healey said:
I've been putting the car back together after painting and I had the usual battle with the rear plate light (reversed the wires and grounded everything out). When corrected, the power was fine, then ALL the power went out. Nothing! I had the horn, lights and radio before but now everything is dead. I'm thing solenoid??? How can it be checked.
Any other directions to try? I'm usually on top of this type of problems.
Of course, checked the fuses (I have 7).
Click to expand...
I usually start from scratch when this happens, which it hasn't it several years, by starting at the battery source and working forward.

Check Battery(todays batteries seem to "break internal cell" connections easier than the older ones of several years ago.
Check battery terminals.
Check "shut-off switch(jumper terminals if you have to)
Use a "light bulb" tester" and not a voltmeter to check for power. The reason I do this is because a voltmeter will show "voltage", but not "current flow". The "light bulb" shows current flowing.
The connection on the solenoid is important so be sure it is "good" to the fuse box.
 
Two things that have happened to me in the past are faulty cutoff switch and intermittent failure of the motor ground. I now have two ground straps to stop that ever happening again.

Hope it's easy to find.

Cheers,

Ian
 
Tahoe

The power to the horns etc is only linked off the solenoid terminal thru to the regulator, ie the cable from the battery goes to one terminal on the solenoid, and from this same terminal to the regulator, this brown wire again links from the regulator thru fuses to the radio and horn etc.

Its sounds like a bad chassis strap at the battery or faulty battery switch. Note that the thin black and white battery switch wire is only used to ground the coil / dizzy and stop the engine starting, but does not affect the auxillary circuits such as horn etc.

Check you have 12v at the battery and at each side of the battery switch, then thru to the solenoid. You should check you have 12 to ground by measuring at a point on the chassis to any off the above mentioned points. To prove its a bad ground I would measure the 12 v between ground strap next to battery and +12v on battery, then use a jump start cable between the earth strap and -12v (assuming you have converted to negative earth) on the battery to bypass the battery switch, to prove its the battery switch.

cheers Andy
 
I experianced the same thing on my 1960 BT7 restoration, The problem I found that I was was not getting a good ground connection through out the system.
To correct the problem I made sure that any connections regarding to the grounding of the chassis to battery must be free of paint or primer, including the engine plate ground cable to chassis. after removing the paint the power was up and I was able to start the engine.

Roger
 
Roger that Roger.

I was just going to mention the same thing TH.
You just got your car out of the body shop for painting. Did they paint any of the areas where there was a ground strap or ground being made by screw or bolt?

Best of luck,
Roger
 
Frankenhealey said:
Two things that have happened to me in the past are faulty cutoff switch and intermittent failure of the motor ground. I now have two ground straps to stop that ever happening again.

Hope it's easy to find.

Cheers,

Ian
Click to expand...
I don't think you can ever have too many "groun ds" in a Healey!! I also don't think we'll ever need a second "cut-off" switch in a Healey....the one we have seems to be very effective.
Patrick
 
Battery is 5 months old. Switch,which I will recheck today,is 4 years old. No painted areas that had connections painted.
My plan is to try a jumper cable to by pass the switch. Its usually something simple and stupid.
Thanks all.
 
Hi Rich,
How old is that battery? If it is a couple years old and wasn't charged before you had the short and used it for testing the different circuits, it may just have a low charge. It also may need to be topped off with distilled water if it isn't maintenance-free.
 
tah Its usually something simple and stupid. Thanks all. YEP__TH---------Keoke[/quote said:
:laugh:
Click to expand...
 
Well, it was something stupid. I said I had 7 fuses. Well the 8th one blew.I forgot about it. It goes to the AMP meter. AND the new battery was low as the car was at the painter.
 
Yes, made my day until had to put the grill in. Three hours for 8 fasteners. Got it all done and celebrated with lots of wine (for the pain in my hands, of course).
 
tahoe healey said:
Got it all done and celebrated with lots of wine (for the pain in my hands, of course).
Click to expand...

Ahhh. Alcohol, the mechanics true lubricant and painkiller :cheers:

Obviously not before working on the car, driving or operating heavy machinery or promising a woman anything!

Warning : Consumption of alcohol may make you think it will be quicker to take the front shroud off..

Warning : Consumption of alcohol is a major factor in deciding the potential new Healey is in a much better state than it actually is.

Warning : Consumption of alcohol may cause you to believe what the auto dealer tells you.

Warning : Consumption of alcohol may lead you to believe that new panels ARE a better fit than your old ones.

Warning : Consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what the heck happened to that wrench after the engine rebuild.

Warning : Consumption of alcohol may make you think that that 'slight' kink in the chassis is of no importance.

Warning : Consumption of alcohol may make you think you that you put the top back on the pit.

Warning : Consumption of alcohol may cause you to decide those axle stands aren't really necessary.

Warning : Consumption of alcohol is the leading cause of thinking you can re-upholster the seats yourself.
 
Tahoe,

Remember since you have installed an amp meter, if the internals of the amp meter ever fail without blowing your fuse then you will have the exact same symptoms as you just experienced. Except when you check the fuse it will be OK.
That is the drawback of using an amp meter instead of a voltmeter.
If you ever have that situation, use a big wire and jumper around your amp meter and see if your power is restored. If it is then the amp meter failed.

Ed
 
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